Opera Philadelphia

Sky on Swings Synopsis

We open on an Alzheimer’s hallucination. Martha, a woman in her seventies, sees a surreal and exaggerated world in which strangers torment her and weather invades her kitchen. Martha remains in the grips of her hallucination until the presence of Martha’s daughter, Winnie, rips her out of itSuddenly, shockingly, Martha is back in the Alzheimer’s care facility where she lives. As Martha visits with her daughterelements of the hallucination linger, complicating her ability to interact in a normal way.  

We meet Danny, a woman in her sixties, as her son Ira pushes her to undergo a simple Alzheimer’s test: remembering a list of ten nouns. When Danny struggles to recall even one or two of the words, she’s forced to reckon with her cognitive declineDanny’s memory is fading but, at this point, she’s still fully able to reckon with and agonize about the bleakness of her future.    

Danny and Martha meet at the Alzheimer’s care facility and fall into a strange intimacy. Danny reminds Martha of girl she fell in love with when she was fifteen years old. Martha’s nostalgia blurs past and present until Danny becomes the girl she loved. ADanny’s mind starts to ebb, the women exist in a romantic, fantastical and incoherent landscape together… 

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Dates are May 2020.

Fri, May 22 8:00 p.m.

The running time is approximately one hour and 32 minutes.

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